City of Castlegar workers may strike on Monday

Local 2262 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has informed by way of an August 15 press release that it’s workers have filed 72-hour strike notice with the BC Labour Board. It had been more than a year since the previous contract had expired.

Negotiations between the Local and the City of Castlegar had reached an impasse of late, leading to the first such local action by the union in 60 years.

A strike could legally be underway as of Monday, depending on the results of a closed union meeting that night. Various options would be available to the Local, including job action like an overtime ban, all the way to a city-wide work stoppage.

“Our members live and work in the City of Castlegar and we care about our community,” Local 2262 President Leford Lafayette is quoted in the Marketwired press release, adding “The last thing we want is to disrupt the important city services that CUPE members provide, but at this point we have no other option.”

Neither City of Castlegar CAO John Malcolm, nor other spokesperson were available for comment as of late Friday morning.